U.S. Tank Destroyer M10 Mid Production
Tamiya 1/35 scale

Stock Number and Description Tamiya Kit No. 35350 - Tamiya Kit No. 35350 - U.S. Tank Destroyer M10 Mid Production
Scale: 1/35
Media and Contents: 324 parts in light grey plastic (test shot only); ten parts in clear; two lengths of polypropylene tracks; 4 small and 4 large polythene caps; length of string; markings for two vehicles.
Price: Not available for Bulgaria
Review Type: First Look
Advantages: Straightforward build; high level of detail; includes fighting compartment detail and stowage; includes three "in action" crew figures.
Disadvantages:
Recommendation: Highly Recommended

B a c k g r o u n d
The M4 Sherman was the backbone of American and British armour forces by the time of the Allied campaigns in Italy and North Western Europe. The Sherman was a hard working tank available in vast numbers thanks to American mass-production techniques and it could hold its own against its German contemporaries, the Panzer III and Panzer IV. However, the 75mm main gun was ineffective against the German heavy tanks, the Panther and the dreaded Tiger.
American armoured doctrine called for the use of specialised tank destroyers - heavily armed and highly mobile vehicles dedicated to blunting German armoured breakthrough. The M10 tank destroyer was the first of these dedicated vehicles. It was based on the chassis of the M4A2 Sherman with new sloped hull armour and an open topped turret fitted with the M7 76mm anti-tank gun.
After seeing service in North Africa and Italy, the M10 was used extensively in France following the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944. The 76mm gun fitted to the dedicated US Tank Destroyer, the M10, did not fare well against Tigers and Panthers, but in the drive through France, Belgium and Germany, the M10 was increasingly used in the infantry support role.
More than 4,900 M10s were manufactured.